Monday, 28 July 2014

Hello all - did'ya miss me? Sorry I've been AWOL this last week or so, but just returned from a wonderfully relaxing week away on our holidays to Santorini, a stunning little Greek island. We were lucky to have a fabulous little hotel, lots of hot sunshine and such friendly people! We met some lovely people also staying at the hotel, enjoyed time relaxing and going exploring, and generally 'chilled out'! But of course, I'm now back home, gradually wading through laundry (there seems to be so much I'm sure I must have another family's washing as well....!) and back to all the usual jobs. We've got a couple of weeks at home and then we'll be helping our daughter move south to her new flat in Lewes near Brighton (and then facing a very long, and probably weepy, journey back home after we've installed her there!). So a busy few weeks ahead - I suppose it keeps me out of mischief lol.

Anyway, less waffle, and a baby card to share with you made using a fabulous digi stamp from Mo's Digital Pencil called 'Spit Happens'

Such a cutie baby! I've coloured the image with copics and graph-it alcohol pens

The backing papers and sentiment tags are from LOTV, with some lace and pearls from stash. Quite a simple card layout really, and I wasn't too sure about the colour combination - but I think it works ok?

And another sample of some crocheting to share with you too - a baby blanket made like a big granny square!

I used a mix of white and lemon shades, with a picot edging - it's about 40-45 inch square - and it's got a lovely soft finish to it, perfect for a cutie baby!

Anyway, I'll be gradually working my way around Blogland to see what creative goodies everyone has been busy with - and I suppose I'd better carry on with the laundry too.... :(

Wednesday, 16 July 2014

Hello all and hope that your week is going well? It's a bit grey and rainy today but still warm - and more sunshine forecast tomorrow (so better get some more of the never-ending laundry done then...!). A warm welcome to my new followers and thank you to everyone for all the lovely comments you've been leaving - they mean so much. And also a big thank you to everyone who has had a look and 'liked' my new facebook page! I'm still learning what to do with facebook (I'm not very confident with it!) but it was a good chance to share crafty things with other people - and I've had a few orders for cards, etc. So, fingers crossed, that keeps going!

This was a card made for an order, someone wanted a 'special friend' card so I came up with this

I've used a sweet LOTV image and LOTV papers. The stamp was coloured with copics and promarkers

The sentiments are also from LOTV. The die cut flowers are using Marianne dies, with Joanna Sheen Signature dies for the filigree corners.

Hope you like it!

Thankfully the sun shone yesterday as it was our daughter Lauren's graduation - she got a First Class Honours from Lancaster University in Criminology and Sociology! We are so proud - and it was wonderful to see her in cap and gown yesterday. She's heading off shortly to Brighton to start her teacher training (she wants to do primary teaching) and it will feel so strange when she's gone, but she's worked so hard and we're thrilled she's done so well. So just thought I'd share a few pics (hope you don't mind!) and there's even a photo of me - these are as rare as hens' teeth lol! (I hate having my photo taken!)

Monday, 14 July 2014

Hi and welcome to my little corner of Blogland once again! I hope that you had a good weekend and that your week has started well? Just all the usual jobs here - although it's nice to have finished work for the summer break (although I won't go on about it too much for those of you still working lol!). A house full of offspring and extras at the moment, daughter and boyfriend are here - he's travelled up from Brighton for her graduation tomorrow! And son and one of his friends who's also staying over. I think my house is generally known as "Kim's Cafe + B&B"! Sigh. But despite the extra work, I do enjoy having a house full - despite the fact that they seem to eat everything and there's no peace!

I'll stop waffling now! A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to have a card win the challenge over at Love to Create and the team had very kindly asked if I would be their guest designer for this week's challenge - and I was happy to oblige lol! The sponsor for this week's challenge over at Love to Create is Sassy Studio Designs - the challenge this week is 'Petals and Pearls' - and I have used a fabulous 'SentiMints' digi from Sassy Studio for my card

The backing papers are from K&Co and I've added some stitching and distress inks, and distressed the edges. The flower was made using a Sizzix die, and the sentiment cut with a Spellbinders one. The lace and pearls are from stash.

Hope you like it - and I hope you'll pop over to the Love to Create Challenge Blog and join in with the 'petals and pearls' challenge for this week.

And I'd just like to thank their talented DT for inviting me to be their GDT for the week!

Friday, 11 July 2014

Hello all and I hope you've had a good week? I can't believe it's Friday as this week seems to have passed in a blur. We've been so busy at work but today was our end of term for the summer break and it is so nice to have some time off! I'll be in for a few days over the holidays, but at least I feel as though I'll have some time to catch up with myself as we have a busy few weeks ahead at home.

Thank you for all your birthday wishes for my daughter's 21st - thankfully the weather played nicely, we had a lovely warm summer's afternoon last Sunday and about 30 or so people here, relaxing and chatting in the house and garden, my son singing and playing his guitar for everyone (he's quite good really lol!) and plenty of food and drink circulating! It was lovely to catch up and see everyone, and all seem to have a good time - especially my daughter which was the main thing! This Tuesday we will be going to her graduation ceremony at Lancaster University - we're so proud of her, she's done so well!

Anyway, the card I'm sharing today was one made for an order - a friend had asked for a 21st birthday card for a young man who's just completed a degree in computing so I came up with this:-

Apologies for the photo - it seems a bit dark and blurry! I used a great image from Mo Manning, coloured with copics and promarkers

The backing paper was from LOTV with some twine and button from stash. The sentiment was printed on the computer, with the '21' bit die cut using All Occasion dies.

Quite a simple card, but I think it works ok.

I'll be back soon - and hopefully now have a little more free time to catch up with everyone's crafty makes over the coming weeks!

Saturday, 5 July 2014

Hello all and I hope that your weekend has started well and that the sun is shining for you like it is here today! It's a glorious blue-sky sort of day and I'm hoping for some sunshine tomorrow too (being the greedy sort lol!) as we have some family and friends coming to help us celebrate our daughter Lauren's 21st birthday! I can't believe that my little girl will be 21 - it really feels like a 'blink and you miss it' sort of experience. How come they grow up so fast? But she's turned into a beautiful young lady (even though I'm a bit biased I admit) and we are so proud of her - as we are of all our offspring! And we have another family birthday today - my gorgeous step-daughter Lucy (I know, two birthdays a day apart!). And I'm not going to mention how old she is today - suffice it to say that all these young women growing up so fast is definitely making me feel old! So I just thought I'd take a quick break from the tidying and food prep ahead of tomorrow and share some crocheting with you - again!

I saw a lovely bag and pattern for a chunky crochet bag (on a lovely blog Attic24) and sort of fell in love with it - it's so cute!

It's a scrummy mix of colours (although it would also look lovely in different shades of one colour) and is a really useful size too and it was nice to work with chunky wool for a change.

I love the little flowers, leaves and buttons - so cute!

I decided to line the inside with some pretty flowery fabric - partly to help prevent any stretching and partly to stop me catching at the wool whenever I'm rooting around for things at the bottom (usually my phone or keys lol!).

A quick pic of Lauren modelling it so that it gives an idea of size!

It was such a pleasure to make - so if anyone fancies a bag made specially for them please let me know! I'd be keen to make another!

Hope you like it!

Before I go, I just wanted to share a pic of my special girls, especially because two of them have their birthdays today and tomorrow! - my gorgeous daughter Lauren (in the centre) with her two half-sisters (my beautiful step-daughters) Lucy (on the left) and Charlotte (on the right)!

Thursday, 3 July 2014

Just realised that the last blog post I did was all girly and pinks too! Oops. I will put some 'non-girly' things on soon - it just seems that I have done quite a few girly creations lately. I hope your week has been going well - a really busy one here and probably set to get a good deal busier over the next few days before we have a bit of a party here on Sunday for my daughter's 21st. So off tonight to do a 'big shop' lol! Every time we arrange to do these things I do wonder why I come up with the 'good idea' - but it is nice when we have lots of family and friends here (despite the work involved!).

Anyway, just wanted to share another one of the baby cards that I made recently - and, as I mentioned, a very girly pink one designed for a special arrival

I've used a gorgeous baby stamp from LOTV, coloured with copics

The backing papers are also from LOTV with some added stitching. I've used flowers from WOC, spotty ribbon & button from stash and Spellbinder floral oval die and MB precious heart. The sentiment goes with the stamp.

And the inside decorated to match!

Baby cards are always so cute to make, it's always a pleasure when I get asked to make one!